What do I do???

L

littletankbigworld

Superstar Fish
#1
Aug 16, 2009
1,318
0
0
SW Pennsylvania
#1
Okay...So, I have about 40 molly fry. They are three weeks old and already half an inch long. I was planning on selling them to the LFS, but I have been reading a lot that the LFS doesn't take much for them. What should I do??? Should I set up an ad on Craigslist for the molly fry when they are old enough to sale? Has anyone ever had any luck with the LFS? What about placing an ad online? Please help!!! I cannot keep this many fry, and I would only sell them as snacks as a last resort, so please do not suggest I do that.

Thank you.
 

MissFishy

MissFishy

Superstar Fish
#2
Aug 10, 2006
2,237
5
0
Michigan
#2
Well, your 5 gallon and 1.5 gallon are both massively overstocked, even if you are doing maintenance on them. The fry will never grow large enough to sell in a tank that size, their growth will be stunted if it hasn't been already. You need a larger tank ASAP.

Call around to a bunch of local fish stores in your area, not the chain stores. They will usually take fry but probably won't pay you much for them. You can try craigslist, but probably won't make anything on them that way either. Good luck
 

exhumed07

exhumed07

Superstar Fish
#3
Apr 30, 2006
1,774
0
36
Illinois
#3
I agree with missfishy. I know petco will take fry but they don't give any money or credit for them. try the small local fish stores. there is one in particular that I go to here and sell my fry to. one thing u have to keep in mind is the LFS will oly give u half to 3/4 of what tehy will sell the fish for. so if u have fish they sell for $1 u may get 50 to 75 cents for the fry u bring in. if u get enough though it can be rather productive. But u need a much MUCH larger tank.
 

L

littletankbigworld

Superstar Fish
#4
Aug 16, 2009
1,318
0
0
SW Pennsylvania
#4
In the first three weeks, the fry have over doubled in size, despite hearing many times that their growth would be stunted. I bought a 29-gallon tank today, which I promptly began cycling without fish. Once the 29 is cycled, all of the adults and two of the babies will be transferred to that tank, and the others will remain in the 5 gallon. I know that is still an extremely small space for that many fish, but once they are in the 5 and grow bigger, they will be sold.

There is one local fish store that sells mollies for a whopping 4 dollars a piece. I’ll be selling 35 of them. It would be excellent to get 15 dollars, but I’m not expecting that much. I'd like to set up some sort of a deal with my LFS, in case this happens again.
 

MissFishy

MissFishy

Superstar Fish
#5
Aug 10, 2006
2,237
5
0
Michigan
#5
Well, the good news is that with a 5gallon tank already, you don't even need to go through fishlessly cycling the new 29 gallon tank! You need to move those fish over to the new tank ASAP, take a look at the link in my signature about "established media method" fish tank cycling.
 

L

littletankbigworld

Superstar Fish
#6
Aug 16, 2009
1,318
0
0
SW Pennsylvania
#6
I'm putting bacteria and dirt from the 5 gallon into the 29 gallon along with a couple drops of ammonia to cycle it. Also, I sloshed my 5 gallon's filter pad in the 29 gallon water and then I placed the filter pad back to back with the 29 gallon filter pad inside the filter.

I read your site and it is very informative. How long do you think they cycling will take with everything I've already done? I know it's hard to tell, but if you could give me a guess...

And with your cycling method, how long does that take?
 

homebunnyj

homebunnyj

Superstar Fish
#10
Jul 13, 2005
1,299
4
0
Western NC
#10
I would Craigslist them if it were me. If you sell them for less than the stores of course you'll have an easier time moving them. And you can Freecycle the ones that don't sell later on.
 

MissFishy

MissFishy

Superstar Fish
#11
Aug 10, 2006
2,237
5
0
Michigan
#11
Your tank should be cycled immediately if you add enough good bacteria to the new tank. Of course if you've added ammonia already, make sure that has dropped down to 0.0 ppm before adding any fish. A tank is cycled when you can add ammonia in the morning and by the evening the ammonia is 0.0 again.

You can just take your filter pad from the 5, put it in the 29 filter for a day, that will help immensely.
 

homebunnyj

homebunnyj

Superstar Fish
#16
Jul 13, 2005
1,299
4
0
Western NC
#16
Instead of the whole shebang, you can just buy the ammonia test separately, and then the nitrite test. That's what I had to do. But you gotta have it. Period. You have to test daily during the cycling process, plus whenever you're having a problem with your tank.
 

homebunnyj

homebunnyj

Superstar Fish
#19
Jul 13, 2005
1,299
4
0
Western NC
#19
The Freecycle Network is a network of local groups dedicated to keeping usable items out of the landfill. Many of the groups also provide for rehoming pets as well, under certain guidelines. If you have something still usable, you post up offering it, and someone else will most likely have a need for it. If you need a particular thing, post a 'wanted' and someone else may have one lying around the house. I needed a 6' piece of copper tubing last week, and a gentleman had been saving a scrap piece from a project that he felt was too good to toss, but he'd never need. We made arrangements to meet, and I had my tubing.

Sometimes you can land an entire tank... or fish or plants. It's a great way to get rid of extra household goods, clothes, whatever needs to go when you de-clutter.
 

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